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7 Must Have WordPress Plugins

This list contains my top 7 Must Have WordPress Plugins.

Because I’m a visual learner, I’ve included screenshots of each plugin to help you get a better understanding of how to use each one. Experience is the best teacher which is how I have learned which plugin’s work best for my blog. I hope you will find this information helpful.

1.Click to Tweet by CoSchedule

Click to Tweet is great for the right kind of post. It isn’t necessarily a tool you will wish to use for every single post you write. It’s great for blog parties, giveaway’s and current eventstype information. Most readers are willing to help you get the word out for current events.

You may wish to update a post and add the Click to Tweet feature once you see that a particular posts is very popular. MyChristmas Party Gamespost was one of the first I wrote when I began my blog. It has been very popular from the beginning. I have updated it a couple of times including adding in the Click to Tweet link.

2. Easy Recipe

2. Add a more professional looking printable recipe to your blog post.

I use the free version of Easy Recipe (Free is always good!) The paid version will allow you to include a picture inside the printable area.

3.Yoast SEO

SEO means Search Engine Optimization

My favorite thing about Yoast is the SEO ‘coaching’. YOAST will give you the ‘green light’ when you are SEO ready. Click on ‘Check’ (as shown in below screenshot) to learn which corrections you need to make if you have a yellow or gray light.

Clicking on ‘Check’ will take you to the Page Analysis with a list of suggestions and tips to make your post Search Engine Optimal.

Once you have all green Yes’s (as seen in screenshot below) and the green light on your Dashboard Edit Post, you are good to go!

Enjoy organic visitors who are able to find your site when they enter matching search terms into their search engine.

4.Comment Luv

Bloggers love comments! I used to comment on blogs long before I became a blogger myself.

If I had seen other interesting blog title links in the comments, I would definitely click on them. I frequently visit a blog from the Comment Luv link. Don’t you?

TIP: If you have the Comment Luv plugin on your blog but you are not seeing those links show up in your comments, please go fix the problem. It’s probably very simple and even has a quick fix from the Plugin owners.

5. Jetpack by WordPress

My Favorite Thing About The Jetpack Plugin for WordPress is Site Stats.

You will find a comprehensive list of Site Stats for up to one year. This is excellent information to help you determine your strategies going forward.

How to get to get there:

Highlight ‘Jetpack’ in your Dashboard and then click on ‘Site Stats’

You will find

Bar graph with stats for Days, Weeks & Months

Referrers to help you see which social media sites are performing best for your blog

All of your Top Posts & Pages (now you know what your readers are interested in)

Search Engine Terms being used to find your blog posts

The links being Clicked on your blog

6. Revive Old Post by Themeisle

Revive Old Post does a great job of social media sharing of your older posts. You choose which posts will be shared and how often. The free version includes Facebook and Twitter. I stick with the free version. The great thing about Revive Old Post is that you set it and you’re done. Other social scheduling sites like Hootsuite are wonderful but you do have to go set the schedules often.

7. Shareaholic

Shareaholic offers an array of features we all need on our blog. You will get floating social share buttons, the Pin it button over each and every image, nice sized and attractive related post links, social follow buttons and even affiliate links.

The down side of Shareaholic for me is that I’d like to select the Promoted Content myself.

Comments

I have some of these but not all of them. I will have to look up that recipe one soon! I would love to get some rich pins… 🙂 Pinning this post!Rebekah @ Surviving Toddlerrhood recently posted…Introducing Andrew C

Thank you so much for this post! I’m excited to give some of these plugins a try — anything relative to SEO is so foreign to me, that coaching feature you mentioned has me all kinds of hyped!Andie recently posted…My Life Between: Life Lessons through Dementia

Thanks for this post! I’m not very familiar with many plug-ins and would love to update my blog with more features. I am definitely going to check out the easy recipe plugin as I have a recipe planned for this Friday! Thanks!Stephanie recently posted…My First DIY Furniture Project

What a great list! I use quite a few of these but I am definitely going to be checking out Revive Old Posts… I like the idea of not having to think about it when it comes to sharing my older content. Thanks for sharing!Marie recently posted…30 Minute Parmesan Artichoke Bake

I have been eyeing a recipe plug in for the longest time but has not chosen nor installed it yet. I am planning of making more recipes in the future and sharing them so this will be very helpfulIcar recently posted…Don’t Worry, Be Happy #LifeAfterLeaks

Great list! I especially love Comment Luv. It helps making commenting so much easier and more rewarding. If a blog makes it difficult to comment, I usually won’t. I’ll have to check out the Recipe plugin. I don’t do too many, but it would be nice to make them look professional!Sarah@TheOrthodoxMama recently posted…What I’m Reading This Week #25

I’m glad to know that I use them all with the exception of the revive old posts one. I am going to check it out right now. Thanks for sharing these. I pinned it as well.Rena McDaniel recently posted…ARE YOU GAMBLING WITH YOUR CONTENT?

I’m definitely a fan of the comment luv. I tend to comment on websites more that have that feature. It is awesome to see what other people have been writing about as I scroll through the comments.Keelie Reason recently posted…Helping Your Husband Feel Attractive

Thanks for sharing your list of plug-ins. I love CommentLuv, I think it’s a wonderful way to encourage others to comment and also encourages other readers to click around and visit other blogs.Estrella recently posted…The One When I Totally Fail – Granada Month 2

I’ve heard a lot of positive things about these widgets. I hope that day Blogger will get some of these or similar versions since I’m not really interested in switching my current blog to WP any time soon!K. Elizabeth @ YUMMommy recently posted…Thankful Thursday

SEO by Yoast helped me get on page one of Google with one of my posts. It’s been one of the greatest achievements with my blog thus far. I wouldn’t recommend any other SEO plugin. I’ve never heard of Revive Old Post! I”ll have to investigate that one. Thanks for the great list of plugins!

I’m fairly new to blogging so I haven’t made use of very many plug ins yet. This is a great list! I’m definitely going to check out Easy Recipe and Coment Luv very soon! Thanks for sharing!Kristin @ Biblical Wives recently posted…Give up the Right to Be Right

I am always looking for great plugins. Thanks for sharing these. One of my favorites are Comment Reply Notification. I always like getting an email when someone replies to my comment so I like to return the favor.Jen K recently posted…Caramel Popcorn and Shelfies

My must-have plugin is WordFence Security. I have hundreds of hack-attempts each week, and I have never had anyone break through (it helps that I have a great admin name and crazy-long password!). I also use Akismet- it rid me of the 100’s of comment spam that I was getting. I am not sure if other people have the security issues that I have- in fact I would really like to know if other people do, or if this is because of my target audience. Do you have spam and hack problems?Margo recently posted…Neglect and Consequences

Great list of plugins. I love Yoast, Shareaholic and Jetpack. I also use a different Tweeting plugin that I love. I will be looking into the Easy Recipe. I have been happy with Recipe Card, but I haven’t started doing Rich Pins yet…so it may be worth it to switch! I love to hear what works for other bloggers!Jamie recently posted…Wonderful Pins at Pick Your Pin Link Party #21

This looks like an amazing list! I myself am still on Blogger because I’m too chicken to make the change. (I didn’t know that I would still be blogging when I started back in 2011, and Blogger was the only one I knew of at the time.) But I do use WordPress for some of the bloggers I work with through my VA business. I’ll have to make sure my clients are familiar with all of these. Thanks!Heather aka HoJo recently posted…Why We Meal Plan {And How You Can Too!}

Thanks for this, it’s very interesting and very useful. I don’t *yet* have a self-hosted blog, and so plugins are quite new to me. I want to migrate my content eventually to one where I can use plugins, so I will definitely be back to look over these again. I would especially like the recipe one! Thank you!Helen recently posted…The Blessing and Example of Perseverance

I love the Revive Old Posts plugin, and I’ve got a couple of these others. I’m going to go check out the other ones you’ve mentioned. Thanks so much for this great blogging resource!Anne Campbell recently posted…Creating with Paper Goods Projects (Giveaway)

I swear by Yoast! And I just discovered the click to Tweet. I also really like the Instagram and Pinterest Slider widgets. Thanks for sharing! I’m going to check out the Revive Old Post plugin!Karin Rambo recently posted…More than Enough: Why Capsule Wardrobes Make you Happy

Thanks for sharing this post. plugins are so helpful and I have most of your pick . This post is featured this week on #wednesdayswisdom, so well donejennifer Abel recently posted…Wednesdays Wisdom # 32

I’ll have to look into Revive Old Post! I am so bad at scheduling out content to share, mine or others. This would be a good way to get my older stuff some new life!Amanda recently posted…Merry Monday Link Party #69

These are 7 great plugins which you have shared with us at #WednesdaysWisdom. I didn’t know about Shareoholic and Revive Old Post which I am definitely going to try. Thanks for linking up with such an informative post. Would also love to see you at #anythinggoes linkup on Mondays.sue recently posted…The Night We Were ‘King & Queen’ in Bali

Great post! You are so talented. Thanks for sharing this at our party. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm, so we get to party with you again! Lou Lou GirlsLou Lou Girls recently posted…Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Great list. I haven’t heard of #6. I need to check that out. With so many old posts, it would be great to get some of them out there again. I’d love for you to link up to Tips and Tricks on Fearlessly Creative Mammas. It started at 7pm mt tonight.Kathleen recently posted…Tips and Tricks 30 Link Party

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